This report reviews papers, which were published since the beginning of 2004, and focuses on works related to “pure” laser ablation of polymers rather than closely related topics such as ablation of biological tissues, laser cleaning of painted artworks, polymer films pulsed laser deposition, matrix assisted laser desorption ionization, and ablation of molecular solids and liquids, although some overlapping with the above subjects, which constitute now separate fields, is inevitable. Papers devoted to both application of laser ablation of polymers and study of fundamentals of the process are considered. In concluding remarks, the state of the art in modeling of laser ablation of polymers is discussed.

Recent developments in laser nanotechnologies allow overcoming optical limitations at the $100\mathrm{nm}$ level of spatial resolution. However, at such distances spatial restrictions on nanostructuring can be imposed by nonlocal response of the media. In the present paper, we consider nanostructuring by means of locally initiated radical polymerization of multifunctional monomers. Such local initiation can be provided, for instance, by femtosecond laser techniques. We theoretically analyze the limitations imposed by diffusion on the formation of two separate nanofeatures such as voxels, rods, and plates. Owing to the percolationlike transition occurring during the polymerization process, mathematical criteria for possible separation of such features are formulated. We develop a theoretical approach by consecutively taking into account diffusion of radicals of growing length. This approach allows us to estimate a characteristic spatial scale which determines the spatial resolution for the particular polymerizing system. For several realistic polymerizable resins, this resolution limit was estimated to be on the order of $10–100\mathrm{nm}$.

Colloidal particle lens array (CPLA) proved to be an efficient near-field focusing device for laser nanoprocessing of materials. Within CPLA, spherical particles do not act as independent microlenses. Due to the coupling of the spherical modes, the field near the clusters of spherical microparticles cannot be calculated by means of the superposition of Mie solutions for individual spheres. In the paper, the electromagnetic field distributions near laser-irradiated clusters of dielectric microspheres with configurations that match the fragments of the close-packed CPLA are studied. It is shown that some practically important mode coupling effects can be understood in terms of an effective immersion medium formed for the spherical particle by its surrounding.

Optically transparent hybrid organic–inorganic nanocomposites based on poly(titanium oxide) gels and hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA, with different component ratios, and terpolymers containing lactide or glycolide as a third component) have been synthesized using a two-stage method. Exchange reactions between HEMA and titanium isopropoxide, and hydrolytic polycondensation of titanium alkoxide in the organic monomer agent have been detected. Radical polymerization of HEMA in the presence of poly(titanium oxide) has been studied. The presence of poly(titanium oxide)–oxoethylmethacrylate clusters of 4–6 nm size in the nanocomposites has been established by small-angle X-ray, X-ray phase analysis and secondary ionic mass spectroscopy. The set of physico-mechanical, thermophysical and optical properties of hybrid nanocomposites has been analyzed. Under UV-irradiation of nanocomposites, the single-electron transition Ti⁴⁺ ⇆ Ti³⁺, accompanied by the darkening/discoloring of the sample, took place. The intensity and speed of photochromic transition can be regulated by changing the composition of nanocomposites. The tensile strength of nanocomposites and the temperature of destruction reach 6.8 MPa and 244 °C respectively. The dependence of the properties of nanocomposites on the initial ratio of organic and inorganic components has been established.